


dying ember

by SmilingCheshire



Series: and each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Child Neglect, F/M, POV Third Person, characters might be OOC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 02:05:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11773230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SmilingCheshire/pseuds/SmilingCheshire
Summary: ❝I remained too much inside my head and ended up losing my mind.❞ - Edgar Allan PoeSometimes (often), Jack wonders if Janet can even feel fear but then he looks at her and sees Janet with silky black hair and cold blue eyes and pale skin and her not-smile, he sees her hiding something ancient and dangerous and dark inside her, and he knows.





	dying ember

It’s a well kept secret that Janet Drake can’t love, the woman is a sociopath but no seems to catch on. Janet’s an excellent actress, she knows how to mimic the body language and facial expressions that make it seem like she can feel, but that’s just an act that only Jack and Tim know about.

Jack Drake’s similar to his wife in a way, he isn’t the exact same; he can feel and he knows love, has felt it for himself before, but he mimics Janet the same way she mimics other, _regular_ people. He finds it best to pretend to be uncaring, to be dumb, to be useless; Janet is remarkably intelligent, he knows this, sometimes he wonders if that’s why he pretends, if it’s because he fears his wife.

Jack locks his emotions up in a box, it _is_ best to pretend after all. He also wonders if he does this because his emotions would crush him if he let them back in, if he had mimicked Janet so well that he no longer knows how to deal with emotions (he knows this is as likely as it is unlikely, an even split; he hopes it isn’t true, one day the lock will break and he will have to deal with raw, _raw_ emotion he’s been hiding from and he’s scared but Janet isn’t. Janet doesn’t need to, doesn’t know what fear really is).

Internally, Jack scoffs when he overhears socialites and employees say he’s the emotionless one. _If only they knew_ , he thinks as he takes a glass of champagne from a server. He smiles. Janet doesn’t.

(It’s not surprising, Jack only remembers Janet smiling, actually smiling with mirth that reaches her eyes, a handful of times and even then, they could just be dreams. He doesn’t want them to be.)

Sometimes (often), Jack wonders if Janet can even feel fear but then he looks at her and sees Janet with silky black hair and cold blue eyes and pale skin and her not-smile, he sees her hiding something ancient and dangerous and dark inside her, and he knows.

 

* * *

 

Janet is pregnant and Jack acts like he doesn’t care, but he does and he worries. He worries that this child will become something dark and twisted like Janet or become a coward like himself, he doesn’t want either.

(But if it is one or the other, he yearns for the latter because a coward is fearful and that is something more than Janet has ever felt.)

 

* * *

 

It’s a boy and his name is Timothy.

When Janet holds him, her lips twist into one of her not-smiles (Jack had wished that the baby would elicit some type of response) and she holds him close like any other new mother would but on Janet, it looks wrong. Just as he expected, when the room clears Janet hurriedly shoves Tim into Jack’s arms (Janet doesn’t like children, she complains and complains about them and Jack doesn’t know why she kept the baby because he knows that he would be a horrible parent but perhaps better than Janet).

Very quickly Jack finds a hobby for them, something that would take them away from Tim, away from Gotham. Jack had always loved archaeology and Janet found it interesting enough so they start travel around the world when Tim is three. They leave Tim with Ms. Mac and a nanny and don’t return for several months. Jack knows it’s neglect but he thinks it’s better than how Janet would parent him based off their interactions when they are home. Janet teaches Tim things he shouldn’t need to do yet (lying specifically, he learns easily so early, he might turn into a pathological liar, Jack thinks but that’s what Janet wants, her son to be able to lie to anyone, even the Batman).

They leave a week after that.

 

* * *

 

They spend more time away from home than at it, Janet doesn’t mind and Jack doesn’t mind that much either (all his emotions are locked away, he reminds himself in moments of doubt, as few as they are). Jack appreciates being home though, he gets to be away from Janet and in those times, he realizes how terrified of her he is.

Tim is quiet whenever they get back, quieter than before, he walks almost without sound soon enough. Jack dismisses it but Janet gets a manic smile when she sees him do it for the first time, Tim ignores it likes he’s used to it (Jack finds this unsettling, Janet’s smile just gets bigger) and Jack, well, he starts to worry again (not like before though, his emotions are still locked away but sometimes he lets a little bit of one slip away from it’s cage).

Janet pulls him out of school after that and sends him away somewhere she doesn’t tell Jack. He just tightens the lock on his emotions again, he can’t afford to lose himself in them anymore.

 

* * *

 

People begin to suspect that Tim has been kidnapped after enough time, Jack doesn’t let it bother him. He went on with his life and let Janet calm the masses by saying that he’s going to school in Europe and then their travels start again.

One night when they’re staying in Gotham (because of legal troubles with Drake Industries, it’s tedious but needs to be done), Batman pays them a visit. “Where’s your son?” Batman asks in a gravely voice, Jack stares at him and Janet ignores him.

“Tim is fine,” Jack says, almost stuttering (perhaps he isn’t mimicking Janet as well as he thought he was). Batman scowls and looks like he’s about to stalk over and make Jack tell him what he wants to know (not that Janet tells him anything).

“Tim’s with family,” Janet says, turning around without the slightest hint of fear, her eyes are like ice, more so than usual at least, Batman begins to say something but Janet cuts him off, “he’s studying.”

Batman narrows his eyes and looks like he wants to stay longer, question them more and Jack thinks it’s odd that Batman is so invested in Tim (Janet probably knows why, she always knows). “You should leave,” Janet says, her voice full of controlled malice.

Batman disappears.

Jack looks at Janet, he wants to ask about Tim but he knows he shouldn’t. He remains silent then leaves Janet alone in the unlit room.

 

* * *

 

Tim comes back to Gotham at the end of June. He’s quiet, like always, but this new type of quiet is far more _ominous_ than what Jack is used to when it comes to Tim, Janet doesn’t even acknowledge it but that’s not a surprise.

Tim spends most of the day reading, doing something Jack isn’t aware of or maybe he’s just with friends (does Tim even have friends?). Tim mostly just ignores Jack and Janet, they do the same to him.

There is no routine to fall back into when Tim comes back, the only reason Jack and Janet are even there is because they knew that Tim would be coming home. If he wasn’t gone ( _missing_ ) for the past few months they wouldn’t have come, it’d be just like him coming home from boarding school like always.

They stay for a couple days then they leave, Tim probably doesn’t notice but.

Tim disappears seemingly of his own accord a few days later.

Maybe the lock is breaking after all.

**Author's Note:**

> This is apart of a series that I am currently planning out, this will probably be the only story in it that heavily features Jack and Janet but they could return since I don't have it all figured out yet. Hopefully I'll have the next story soon.
> 
> My [tumbr](https://smilingcheshire.tumblr.com/)


End file.
